


X-Men, Eggo Thief, and Most Importantly, Handkerchiefs

by arcadesintheneighbourhood



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Other, eggos, the party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 12:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13123731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcadesintheneighbourhood/pseuds/arcadesintheneighbourhood
Summary: "She’ll admit, she wasn’t the closest with Dustin at first, but she had grown to love their time together on Thursdays, just the two of them." Dustin visits Eleven every Thursday and fills their time with X-Men, eggos, and talk of handkerchiefs.





	X-Men, Eggo Thief, and Most Importantly, Handkerchiefs

“Son of a bitch!” Dustin shouts as he bangs on the TV. “Son of a-”

“Hey, kid!” Hopper yells from his room. “Shut up!”

“I will once you get your ass over here and fix the TV!” Dustin yells back.

He fiddles with the buttons for a few more minutes, but that doesn't work, so he tries moving some wires around. When that fails too, Dustin throws his hands up in the air in frustration. It’s useless.

“Sorry, El,” He apologizes and sits back on the couch next to Eleven. “Guess we can’t watch that cat show today.”

“No cats?” El sighs sadly. She had been looking forward to watching this cat show with Dustin since last week. Dustin had vividly told her about the fluffy, soft cats that came from all over the world to be judged.

(“So… the cats get the awards?” El asked Dustin, confused. How could an animal get an award?

“Yeah, but it’s more about their breed and behavior than doing cool tricks or anything useful,” Dustin explained. Thinking she was only half-paying attention, he tried to snatch the last Eggo from the plate they were sharing, but El quickly took it back from him with her powers. She waved the waffle in her hand, teasing him.

“Hey!” Dustin objected.

El just smiled and stuffed the Eggo in her mouth. Did he really think she wouldn’t use her powers for Eggos?

“Goddamn it, El,” he murmured. “Anyway, the whole thing is kind of ridiculous, but it’s fun to watch. And the cats are really cute.”

El's eyes lit up. Cute cats on TV for an hour? How could such a good thing exist?)

El’s eyes fill. Now she would never get to see other types of cats. Not at least until September when she could finally leave the cabin and visit the town’s animal shelter. But that was a whole six months away…

She knows Dustin sees her tearing up by the way he turns towards her and shoots a smile at her with all his teeth.

“Don’t worry, El,” He reassures as he zips open his backpack. “I brought plenty of other things that we can do. Do you want to borrow another X-Men comic?”

“Yes,” El says. She smiles a little because Dustin always knew how to cheer her up. Whenever he noticed that she felt even a little sad on his visits, he was always equipped with a joke or a story or a comic book or a game, ready to make her smile again. He did this with Mike and Lucas and Max and Will, too. Whenever they faltered when they said goodbye, whenever Mike shed a tear after separating from a hug, Dustin always lightened the mood by joking or teasing El. She’ll admit, she wasn’t the closest with Dustin at first, but she had grown to love their time together every Thursday, just the two of them. Dustin filled the hours from four to six with X-Men comics, books about animals that he borrowed (or stole) from the library (“Isn’t the capybara cool?” Dustin had pointed to a page about the cute furry rodents), and stories about Mike, Lucas, and Will from their childhood (“D and D wasn’t just a game for us,” He explained very seriously. “It was a lifestyle.”) El liked that he always tried to be happy, and that he always wanted to keep everyone around him happy, too.

Like now. Dustin had no problem tossing her his copy of _The Dark Phoenix Saga_ just to make her feel better.

“I brought one of the best ones for you, El,” He grins. “That son of a bitch Will still has the other one, but don’t worry, I reminded him to bring it tomorrow when he comes to visit with Lucas.”

El gives him a small smile as she gingerly fingers the cover.

“Thanks Dustin,” She says quietly, then shyly admits, “I-I didn’t understand the ending of the last one you gave me.”

“#66?”

“Yeah,” El nods.

“Open it up, what do you need help understanding?” Dustin asks patiently. “Is it the last panel?”

It takes Dustin half an hour to explain the end of the comic, but El loves how thoroughly he does it. He makes her understand the last few pages so much better than she did last night, when she was hunched over under the covers, mouthing the words to herself until Hopper came in and demanded that she went to bed. He flips through earlier pages to point out lines and action sequences, calmly asking El questions to make sure she understands, but when she does…

“So cool,” She mumbles to herself.

“Right? So cool," Dustin grins. "They’re amongst the best superheroes. Just like you, El,” Dustin nudges her in the ribs with his elbows.

“Ow,” El touches the spot where he poked her and lets out a little laugh. “It isn’t all good. I’m running out of handkerchiefs to use after my nosebleeds.”

“Oh yeah?” Dustin raises his eyebrows at her accusingly. “Well, you could stop stealing the last Eggo from me,” He suggests in vain, still bitter from last Thursday. “Then maybe, just maybe, you would have more to use right now.”

“Not a chance,” El smirks, using her powers to flip the comic shut and float it back to the table.

 

“Okay, Mike, it’s your turn.”

Lucas, Mike, Max, Dustin, and Will are all sitting in a circle with El on December 23rd, exchanging Christmas presents with each other before they separate to spend the holidays with their families.

“No!” Mike protests.

“Why not?” Lucas demands.

“B-b-b-because,” Mike stutters. El can’t help but smile at how pink his face gets, how sweetly nervous he is when it comes to her because even though a year has passed since they had been together, she still got nervous when it came to him, too.

“Because he wants to give El his gift alone because they’re boyfriend and girlfriend,” Dustin slaps Lucas’ chest. “Come on, man, don’t you know this stuff by now?”

“If you know everything, then I’m sure that you got the perfect thing for El," Lucas snaps back. "Why don’t you give her your gift, asshole?”

“Gladly, my lord,” Dustin bows to Lucas before turning to El with a small, rectangular box. “If you will, Eleven?”

Eleven shakes her head at Dustin but takes the box from his hand. She unwraps the shiny paper, covered with calico cats, which reveals a rectangular, white box. She lifts up the top, and her eyes widen at the folded stack of cloths.

“I-I-” The corner of El’s lips tug up as she flips through the pile of handkerchiefs. “I can keep stealing your Eggos.”

“Don’t worry,” Dustin gives her famous smile that she likes so much. “I’ll buy extra to eat at home now.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was never meant to be a fic on its own! I was writing another story which mentioned Dustin and Eleven's friendship and decided that they deserved a story with just the two of them. The gang has so many members but only a few of their friendships are explored, and I wanted to expand on Dustin/Eleven's relationship beyond what we've seen in the first season. Let me know what you think/if you enjoy!


End file.
